Illusions
by lubelle321
Summary: It's hard to retire a miraculous hero, especially when being a hero gave them a spark to be a better person. If they could convince Mayura Ladybug was Queen Bee could they convince Hawkmoth that Chloe wasn't? Just a little one shot, ended up a little more than I thought it would be.


_(A/N I've had this idea with Chloe for a while and decided to loop Kagami into it too. _

_I own NOTHING_

_Enjoy!) _

It was late, and Marinette was exhausted, but every time she was still for more than a moment her mind caught up to her she replayed all of her encounters with Lila over and over _and over_. It wasn't healthy and she knew it. That was why Ladybug was zipping over Paris's skyline at one in the morning.

She didn't know where she was going. She'd been past the Louvre at least three times now, had perched on the _Liberty_ for a quarter hour, and had decided to avoid the Eiffel Tower at all cost after a spotlight had blinked on right in her face.

Tripping, she decided to rest for a moment on the rooftop she had fallen on. It was a nice balcony space, and seemed very familiar. Sitting up she scanned her surroundings a little closer, thinking that she really needed to pay attention to where she was going.

"Ladybug?" asked a small, surprised voice. She whipped around to see Chloe rubbing her eyes as she slowly sat up from the settee on by the window. "But I didn't even do the magic call…" The last part was said under her breath and Ladybug couldn't help but wonder what she meant by that while having a brief moment of panic, but Chloe only hated Marinette. Calming herself she sat cross legged and faced the blonde.

"I'm sorry I woke you Chloe, my mind was elsewhere and I tripped. You're not in any danger or anything, so I'll let you get back to sleep." She made to rise, but was interrupted.

"No, no. I'm awake," *yawn* "What has you so worked up?" Chloe seemed so different. Her hair was down and she was slouched on the seat with her legs pulled up and her arms around them. She wore no makeup, and her demeanor was almost...normal.

"Eh, relational problems, in both my lives. Nothing a good run can't fix."

"You mean nothing an adrenaline rush can't distract you from." Laughing she agreed. "Am I one of those problems?" Chloe's voice was small and held a little venom, but not nearly as much as Ladybug would have guessed.

"Not how you think. Queen Bee _is_ retired, it would be too dangerous otherwise. You saw Mayura was plotting an ambush." She made her voice firm and Chloe looked away.

Chloe wasn't stupid she _knew_ Ladybug was right, but that didn't make it easier.

"But, I have a plan. I need to talk to Chat about it to see what he thinks. Just because Queen Bee is retired doesn't mean the bee miraculous is." Chloe scowled when she said that, her eyes misting. Chloe did _not_ want to cry in front of Ladybug. "It also doesn't necessarily mean you're retired either, Chloe." She let out a small gasped and searched Ladybug's eyes for what she meant. It would be cruel to tease her like this.

Ladybug laid down on the balcony floor and studied the invisible stars for a while. She'd said too much already. She wasn't sure if Chat would agree to the plan, and there were a few kinks that still needed worked out. But one thing was true, Chloe was a better person for finding the miraculous. She was also a _really good_ bee wielder and Venom was a useful power to have on standby.

Giving up on finding answers right away Chloe decided to divert attention back to Ladybug.

"So, why did you come _here_ of all places?"

"I tripped," she giggled. Chloe laughed too, remembering when Ladybug pulled her to the side to avoid colliding with a chimney stack. "What was the 'magic call' you mentioned?" Chloe froze hearing her say that. Really, if anyone _saw_ her doing it, it'd be pretty embarrassing. But this was _Ladybug_, she's the one who _gave_ the call to Lila.

"I know only Lila is supposed to know about it, but she told me about the magic dance/chant to let you know I needed you…" She felt really stupid saying that outloud, especially considering the totally confused look on Ladybug's face.

"A magic chant and dance?" Chloe nodded. "And you fell for that?" They both cracked up again. Oddly enough Chloe didn't feel embarrassed, even as she demonstrated said dance. She felt silly and light, until she realized one small detail.

"Wait! So, Lila _lied_ to me?"

"Yeah, that's what she does," Ladybug sighed.

"What do you mean?"

"I saw on the Ladyblog that we're 'best friends,'" (sarcasm and air quotes included) "but I'd never met her before the interview aired. Which is really dangerous! Hawkmoth could have targeted her because of that lie! Anyway, I'm not big on liars and outed her...in front of her crush, Adrien." Ladybug cringed as she said that last part. "I should have waited until she was alone to let her know how dangerous that was and that lying in general is bad, but I was just so _angry_. She got akumatized into Volpina then. She transformed again on Heroes' Day, and then became Chameleon a little while later. What's _amazing_ is how many lies she told while we were fighting Oni-Chan. We were trying to _save_ her, and she was _actively_ working against us! It was ridiculous!"

"Utterly ridiculous!" They burst into giggles again, but Chloe was processing all this information even while laughing. "So she holds a grudge for the Adrien outburst." Ladybug quickly covered her mouth as her eyes got really wide.

"I shouldn't have told you he was her crush!"

"No worries," said Chloe as she waved her hand. "It was pretty obvious anyway." Ladybug nodded slowly.

"And you?" Ladybug asked. Chloe hesitated. It was Ladybug, whom she wholeheartedly trusted. But it was Ladybug, and she couldn't reveal anything about herself in return.

"It's...complicated," Chloe conceded. "I'm not _crushing_ on him. But I do love him…" she practically whispered. Ladybug nodded slowly again.

"You don't need to tell me. I was just wondering."

"As much as I deny it, I know most people can't stand me," she confesses, "Adrien is different. And I value his friendship more than anything. I often hope it'll grow into something more...because if it's not him, then who could it be? But I can't ask him out because I know he doesn't see me like that, and I don't even really feel that way towards him."

Ladybug's brow furrowed as she leaned over to place a hand on Chloe's shoulder. "You're still growing as a person, Chloe. You'll find love one day." She smiled brightly and withdrew her hand.

"What about you?" Ladybug paled. "I know you can't reveal your identity or anything, but any juicy details you can give?"

"Truthfully? My love life is a mess." They dissolved into giggles again. "There are three guys in my life. One is absolutely amazing, but doesn't exist; one I'm head over heels for, but he will _never_ see me that way; and one I _really like_ and he likes me back, but I can't date him until I get over the other two because that's not fair to him." Chloe stared at her. She really hadn't expected her to pour her heart out like that. In the silence Ladybug covered her face with her hands.

"Boys suck," she finally blurted out and the two laughed again.

The next day, Chloe sat and watched Lila get teary eyed as she described her 'rare disease' once again. Lila had lied about so much, could this be another lie? She dialed her driver and said she had another ride home, and when they were dismissed for lunch she climbed in behind Adrien.

"Need a ride home?" he asked dryly once they were both already seated in the backseat of his car.

"Oh, how thoughtful, Adrikins!" she giggled as he smirked and rolled his eyes. She wished that could set butterflies off in her stomach...pushing those thoughts away she focused. "I have a question, Adrien." He straightened and gave her his full attention. "What all has Lila lied about?" He obviously wasn't expecting that to be her question as he had surprise written all over his face.

"To my knowledge she's never told the truth about anything."

"And you're doing provocative photoshoots with her because…?"

"Those were photoshopped," he deadpanned, "and we can't undo their release, so we have to deal with its backlash. And the only reason I let her stay at the photoshoot at all was as a bribe to leave Marinette alone." This surprised her. His tone was much firmer than usual, even holding a bit of bite in it. What he said was even more surprising. She should have expected him to protect Marinette, though.

"Wouldn't it be easier to out her lies?"

"Truthfully I expected her to out herself by mistake by now. My guess is that there is a reason she lies; she's probably hurting in some way too." Chloe scoffed. "That's why when Marinette wanted to prove she's lying I asked her to take the high road. Lila's hadn't been actively hurting anyone until now. I'm beginning to regret my decision."

"Then reverse it," she said simply.

"Easier said than done. We need solid proof… What tipped you off anyway?"

"Ladybug crash landed on my roof. When I mentioned Lila she went on a rant about how her lies about being friends could put her in danger. Then she went on to highlight other lies she's witnessed. I don't think she meant to share that much, but she was frustrated and it all kind of tumbled out."

"Ladybug visited you?"

"Not on purpose, and not the point." Adien had the good graces to look sheepish after being snapped at.

"Let's make a list of her easily disputed lies," suggested Adrien.

"We know Jagged Stone and have met Nightingale. I can contact Prince Ali, but I'm not sure he'll respond. If Ladybug dropped in she'd hold a lot of power."

"Lila already has a grudge against her. Let's not add to that." Chloe nodded, mentally sifting through all the extravagant things Lila has said while at Dupont.

"We could contact her mom?"

"Ask for medical records?"

They grinned and divied up the tasks.

"Should we involve Dupain Cheng?" asked Chloe.

"No, she has enough to worry about. And everyone thinks she hates Lila for no reason. It'll mean more if she's not involved." Chloe nodded again and got out of the car at her hotel.

Ladybug needed the fox miraculous. She also needed to talk to Chat. She had left him a message, but with no Akuma attacks he apparently never transformed. She found that hard to believe considering the few times she had seen him near her home. She'd called out to him a few times and he always sheepishly say his nose led him to her bakery. He could be so cute sometimes. She always wondered how he acted outside of the mask. She changed as Ladybug, so how did he change?

Eventually there was an Akuma attack and he apologized for not getting her message earlier. Apparently he had a project he was working on as a civilian and it was eating a lot of time. They agreed to meet around midnight.

"So, what's bugging you, Milady? You seemed pretty uncertain on the message."

"You know how we retired Queen Bee and Ryuko?" He nodded. "What if we didn't have to?"

"They're great miraculous wielders, but it's not safe. You know that."

"But what if we could _make_ it safe?"

"How?"

"They'd need to don new names and adjust their costumes, but they could reintroduce themselves while maintaining a _secret_ identity."

"People would suspect if a bee hero showed up and Chloe wasn't around...unless Chloe _was _around…" Chat spoke slowly as he came to the same realization as Ladybug.

"The fox miraculous," Ladybug said with a smile. Chat nodded, his eyes seeing something only he could.

"We can't touch the illusions, though." Her smile fell.

"That's the snag I'm trying to work out. But I think it'll be worth it."

"You'll be a fox, and I'll be a horse." Ladybug furrowed her brows in confusion. "No, it's perfect! Don't you see? Chloe 'accidently' falls-in a very public space-and the new bee swoops in to rescue her."

"I'll provide the new bee with illusions…" Ladybug said slowly her eyes lighting up, "while you Voyage the real Chloe to safety!"

"We'll need a different but similar trick for each of the girls."

"But this will work!" Ladybug was jumping up and down throwing her hands around in a victory dance.

"You look like you just won a video game."

"With you by my side I can win anything," she stated confidently. She deflated a little after saying it. Chat felt really bad sometimes about the strain he put on their relationship. He needed to be honest, because they both valued honesty, but that made it hard when she was honest in turn. Her praise was genuine, just not intended the way Chat wished. That was okay, he valued her friendship, but it still hurt just a touch.

"We need a second trick," he changed the subject.

"I think I can pull off looking like her with Longg's help," Ladybug said thoughtfully. "I can 'accidentally' put her in harm's way with my power and Carapace could shield her and scold me. I'd be inexperienced, so it'd be believable."

"We'd want it to happen during a non-akuma incident."

"And both of these are using the assumption I can design something they'd _want_ to transform into. Which is a _big_ assumption considering Kwamis automatically pull what we want and they've both already transformed."

"We can ask Marinette to do it."

"Marinette?" Ladybug squeaked.

"Yeah, remember she did that hat before Audrey Bourgeois was akumatized? She seems pretty talented, and if we ask her to base a costume on their costumes she could probably make it believable."

"We can't tell her what our plan is though…" she replied carefully.

"No...but we can say we found two new heroes who were inspired by the previous two. And they want to be as close as possible, while still being recognizable different."

"That...could work. I'll stop by to ask."

"Tell the purr-incess I was thinking of her," he said with a wink. Honestly, why was he surprised it took her so long to figure out he liked her when he acted like that with everyone?

It took nearly two weeks, but the designs were finished. Now, phase two of the plan: abduct Longg, Kaalki and Trixx. Her and Chat had avoided talking about whether or not Master Fu would agree to their plan. He was always saying they needed to trust their instincts, but this was a bit convoluted.

Carefully tearing her designs from her sketchbook she and Tikki transformed and made their way to meet Chat Noir.

"Good evening, Bugaboo," he purred. Without offering him a response, she handed him her designs. "These look amazing! That girls is _really_ talented." Ladybug tried not to blush from the praise. It wasn't directed at her, after all.

"Alright. I'll need to cast my charm to figure out where Master Fu is...What are we going to tell him?"

"The truth?" he replied, uncertainly. "We'll explain our reasoning. He'll understand. And Longg, Kaalki, and Trixx will enjoy spending time with Tikki and Plagg."

"What about Wayzz? We would need him on call for our dragon plan to work."

"If he can make me look like Carapace I'll try to convince Master Fu to let me keep him for a time. But that may confuse Carapace."

"Can Chat Noir handle the heat if I give off Electric Dragon?"

"Of course, Milady. You should know by now that I can handle anything." She smiles at his quip, but her only response is to call upon her Lucky Charm.

"A reservation ticket for the bowling alley."

"I'll meet you there, Bugaboo. You go recharge." She smiled again at his thoughtfulness and rushed off to feed Tikki.

At the alley the superhero duo met on the roof where passerby couldn't see them.

"How are we going to do this?" she asked. "At his shop we could just both walk in as superheroes, but we can't talk to him like this."

"One of us can go down and talk to him. The other could stay here. I know you're usually the one who speaks with him, so I can sit tight."

"No, I don't want to do that, Chat…"

"I won't look, I promise," he spoke quietly.

"I know that!" she rolled her eyes. "But this is something we both worked to plan out and I want him to know he needs to speak to us both equally. When he wasn't before it was causing problems in our partnership, and now you need a way to find him if necessary."

Chat hadn't expected that. It was sweet that she was trying to prevent repeating previous mistakes.

"But right now, it makes sense for only you to be able to find him. It's safer, it's easier, and you know all the heroes' identities while I only know some." Ladybug hesitated while considering his reasoning.

"I'll see if I can bring him to us. Otherwise I'll speak to him alone." She turned and jumped down into the adjacent alley.

Chat sat and made himself comfortable. Flipping up his baton he scrolled through his Lila portfolio. He and Chloe had decided to set up an 'interview tour' for Lila. Adrien would be the one to introduce her to it, because she wouldn't trust Chloe, but Chloe was setting up just as many stops as he was.

As far as Alya was concerned, the following day she'd be getting exclusive interviews with several of her idols. She didn't know who yet. First would be Vincent. He's a professional photographer and would be offering tips and tricks on working with lighting and space when capturing photos and videos. Next, they'd visit Jagged Stone and detail how he came to own Fang and what kind of care he required. After that, Alya was looking at an exclusive interview with Nightingale about how she prepares for her performances. The last one was surprising, but Prince Ali had agreed to a video call interview (he was hoping to visit Paris again soon, because he had so much fun breaking away from his schedule).

Really each celebrity on the 'tour' planned to debunk Lila's lies about them. He and Chloe were still deciding whether they should invite Lila along just for the amusement, but maybe that was too cruel. Afterwards Adrien would guide her to the fireworks show that Chloe had planned. It would be the perfect place for her to apologise to Marinette and maybe even show off how her interviews went. (Though she may still be in shock at that point.)

The catalyst was to be Lila's own mother coming to school the next day to offer Mr. Damocles Lila's medical records. Chloe made sure her father had contacted her and insisted the school didn't have them. It was true, just odd that the mayor was the one contacting her.

"Playing on your baton, Chat Noir?"

"Just working on that project I mentioned, milady."

"Oh, sorry to interrupt…"

"No worries." He stood and noticed the short man beside her. "Master Fu!" he inclined his head. "It's good to see you again."

"You as well, Chat Noir. Ladybug tells me you wish to rerecruit a few of your allies."

"That is our hope."

"If you can convince Longg and Pollen then I will give my blessing. Actually, I'm glad you are both here. Wayzz and I have been having a serious discussion that I would like to ask your opinion on."

"Oh course Master. What's wrong?" asked Ladybug.

"Shall we call forth everyone involved?" He gestured to the miraculous box Ladybug was holding. She set it on the ground and opened it. He called all the kwamis from the box and they swirled around everyone on the rooftop. Their voices overlapped as they said hello and asked questions.

"It's good to meet you all," Chat laughed.

"Calm down my friends," scolded Master Fu. "Perhaps you two could make your case to Pollen and Longg first?"

Ladybug explained their plan and Chat only interrupted when she failed to mention the kwamis changing their holder's appearance. Pollen was all for seeing Chloe again, and Longg saw great potential in Kagami. When they were finished both kwamis looked over the new designs and said the plans should work flawlessly.

"As long as we all know the plan," Longg smirked, referring to Kagami's excitement the first time she transformed.

"And how would you feel about staying with them?" Master Fu asked softly. All the voices on the roof stilled as everyone looked to him.

"Stayed?" asked Ladybug.

"With Master Fu being in hiding and Hawkmoth already trying to set an ambush we thought it may be safer for the holders who have already been chosen to keep their miraculous with them," answered Wayzz.

Chat and Ladybug were breathless. Could that really be safer?

"I recently transformed so that I could speak with the Guardians in Tibet. They agree, the heroes are meant to grow with their kwamis. And now that these are not the last of the miraculouses, if Paris falls into peril we will have others we can call on for help. But only if needed," he concluded with a finger raised for emphasis.

"But Wayzz…?"

"I will hold another miraculous to keep contact if needed. But the Jade Turtle is now retired. I could not fight, and Wayzz will be the most help alongside Carapace." Master Fu and Wayzz shared a sad smile as he removed his bracelet. Wayzz continued floating there and the atmosphere became very somber.

Stompp floated forward. "Master Fu, I would be honored if you were my miraculous. I know my temperament is very different from Wayzz, but I will use my strength to protect you and Paris as best I can."

Master Fu smiled and asked if Stompp would be offended if his ring would be worn on his ear rather than his nose. Snickering, Stompp assisted him in putting it on.

Wayzz, Trixx, and Pollen were the first to return to their respective miraculous. Ladybug placed all three in her compact. Next, Kaalki and Sass were collected by Chat Noir. Longg explained he would like to examine Ladybug for a bit to make sure he could match her to Kagami when the time came. Xuppu was about to return to his circlet (much to everyone's relief) when Ladybug pointed out she did not know his holder. Neither hero was surprised to learn who was goofy enough to wield jubilation. Chat took that miraculous too.

"I will be sure to transform once a week, in cases either of you needs me. Stompp's strength should keep me from injuring myself," he added with a rueful smirk.

"We'll keep an eye on the holders whenever we can to make sure the kwamis are all safe," assured Chat Noir.

"Oh! I should tell you who Carapace and Rena Rouge are." She looked to Master Fu for conformation. He nodded. "I asked Alya for assistance, because it was her sisters who had been akumatized into the Sapotis. Then, when Alya was kidnapped by Anansi, Nino was fearlessly trying to protect her. I thought it was best to give him Wayzz so he didn't get hurt as a civilian," she smiled.

"Makes sense," Chat grinned. "So the only two who know one another are them, and we both know everyone besides each other… This is good."

"We'll make sure everyone knows to only enter a fight if called or desperate," assured Ladybug.

"I trust you both," smiled Master Fu.

The duo raced across Paris that evening and reunited most holders with their kwamis. Soon Trixx, Kaalki, Longg, and Pollen were the only ones left.

"First thing in the morning Plagg will destroy a bit of the road to cause a disturbance. Then you try to 'fix' it as the dragon. And I was thinking, no one really heard the name Ryuko, so she could continue using it," Ladybug nodded her assent.

"Then you'll transform and save her and I'll be scowling, but apologetic nonetheless."

"Then tomorrow evening, at the firework display, Chloe will fall off her observation deck."

"I'll make sure my illusions spend a good amount of time arguing with each other...Chloe isn't going to like being replaced."

"Perfect."

The next day would be a busy one. Creating the illusion of two new superheroes while explaining '_secret identity_' to the real ones as well as getting through the school day and running Alya's tour that evening to debunk Lila. Adrien had his hands full, but it would all be worth it.

Seeing the Lightning Bug, as he had referred to her against her will, Chat never would have guessed it was Ladybug if he didn't already know. Marinette and Longg did an excellent job disguising her. As the pair followed Kagami to school after the rescue incident everyone was surprised by the butterfly waiting for her to open her car door. Ladybug snatched it up right in front of Kagami and purified it before it could do any harm. Finding a moment alone with the fencer the two explained their deception earlier and reunited her with Longg. Kagami had been trying to apologise for her pain, but they understood. Knowing she couldn't be a superhero was different from seeing someone else become that hero. But they found a way around that, and Ladybug was stunned to see tears in the 'ice queen's' eyes.

The school day went okay. Marinette kept to herself a bit more than usual, but if someone interacted with her she'd perk up and act like nothing was wrong. It made Adrien a bit sick to watch. She was obviously still hurting, and he hadn't helped. But he couldn't go to her side now. He'd seen the akuma make contact with her bag the other day. He was so grateful for whatever had happened to prevent Scarlet Hawkmoth from unleashing his terror again. Adrien wasn't sure he could fight his princess, even if she wasn't 'his.'

Alya didn't know exactly what the surprise was, only that she needed her phone. He was going to explain each as they went along. The question over whether they should invite Lila was answered by Lila herself, when she insisted she come along because Alya was her bestie. Alya's sweet smile in return made Adrien fight to hide a glare.

Upon seeing Adrien and Lila Vincent went on and on apologizing for the leaked photoshopped pictures. This interview was making up for that and he explained to Alya what had happened. But he didn't understand how. Gabriel should have been the only one with unlimited access to the pictures and Lila had only asked for a few as a souvenir for her first photoshoot. Alya soaked up all the information so that if any of her blogs were hacked she'd know how to gracefully deal with that.

Next, Lila made herself scarce when they were approaching Jagged. Alya didn't understand, and _almost_ bailed on the interview to help with Lila's sudden dizzy spell, but Adrien waved her ahead and took Lila to a bench himself. She glared and asked what his game was. He just shrugged and smirked. Alya came back in a bit of a daze. He guessed she had mentioned to Jagged why Adrien wasn't there, but she didn't say anything about Jagged calling Lila out yet. Lila shifted uncomfortably.

The next two interviews followed the same process and Adrien watched Lila fall apart as the day grew dim. Nobody addressed Alya's revelations, but they could guess. When the trio arrived at the bridge they'd be viewing the fireworks from Alya abruptly left to find Marinette, not even offering Lila a glance. Adrien abandoned her too, but he was looking for a fox.

When Knight saw Ladybug he once again, could not recognize her. It reenforced the fact that he'd never know her outside her mask.

"You can call me Huli," she grinned. She seemed to really enjoy transforming with Trixx.

"Yes, well I am the knight of the kingdom," he responded. He couldn't bring himself to say he was _her_ knight, and his chess pun was lost on her. They sent Pollen to make Chloe fall and everything went smoothly from there.

"I guess Murphy's Law wasn't in effect tonight," quipped Huli.

Knight groaned, "Why did you say that? Now the rest of the night is going to be a downward spiral." He hoped Marinette was okay.

Giggling she fled the scene and they both enjoyed the fireworks. She was with a livid Alya who was compiling a video collage that Marinette wasn't allowed to see, and he with Chloe. Who declared Honey Bee was utterly ridiculous. Ladybug had been careful not to name her so that Chloe could choose her own name, so Chloe needed to be a bit more careful, but he was glad to see her trying to hide a smile. They spent most of the night watching Lila try to enforce her friendships. She knew a storm was coming.

And the storm did come. The next day as everyone filed in they watched Alya's collage run on a loop on the screen before Ms. Bustier came in. She couldn't recover from the first hand accounts, and when her mother came in and everything else was exposed, Mr. Damocles chose to expel her, stating she had conspired for the expulsion of another student. Marinette felt nothing but relief. She had friends in the classroom, backup in a fight and a new ally in Chloe that she never thought she'd have.


End file.
